


Locked Out AU

by whatchuknowbouts (firesoul01)



Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate
Genre: Cake, F/M, Rachias - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-27
Updated: 2014-07-06
Packaged: 2018-02-06 09:29:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1853050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firesoul01/pseuds/whatchuknowbouts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jake gets locked out of his dorm room because his dorm mate is a jerk. There he meets his cousins Calculus tutor. They strike up a friendship. I need a better title for this, suggest one, please!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Locked Out

Jake Berenson was not having a good day as he pounded on his dorm room door. “David you sack of wasted molecules and hot air, let me in. I told you I was just going to the snack machine.”

After waiting at the door for another moment, Jake turned on his heels and stalked towards the lobby for the floor. ‘I can’t believe that rat bastard locked me out.' Jake groused mentally, flopping onto the couch with a muffled thump. 'I am not gonna go and ask the RA on duty to let me in to my room, again.’

As he twisted the lid off of his soda, carefully managing the fizz, he heard a soft voice. “Never were one for subtlety were you cus?”

"Not in the least. Got that trait from my favorite cousin," Jake replied, smirking.

"Oh, you were thinking of me?" Rachel crooned, idly glancing back down at her Calc. textbook.

"Nah, I meant cousin Saddler," Jake replied, a smirk on his face.

"Oh haha," Rachel replied dryly. "Oh yeah Jake, this is my friend Cassie. She’s in my calc. class. She’s the only person in the room that can explain this stuff to me."

Jake idly raised a hand, glancing towards Rachel before noticing her friend. “Hi, I’m Jake,” He started, standing, and almost falling off the couch in his haste. As he stuck out his hand, he realized he was still holding his soda bottle, putting it down on the table to try again. “Jake Berenson, although I guess you already knew that, since you probably already know Rachel’s last name,” Jake paused to take a deep breath, looking at Rachel for a moment, seeing the grin on her face. “I’m babbling aren’t I?”

Cassie smiled at Jake, taking his hand in her’s. “I’m Cassie Freeman. I’m Rachel’s new Calc. buddy apparently,” She began, her voice soft and warm. “And yes, you are babbling, but I think it’s rather cute.”

At that, Jake felt his entire face flush, his ears beginning to burn violently. “Oh, ah, yeah. Math is hard,” Jake replied, his tongue feeling like it weighed a thousand pounds, thick and slow in his mouth. “I’m history. I mean I like history. I mean,” At this, Jake took a deep breath, holding it for a brief moment before letting it out slowly, “I major in history here at the university. I mainly focus in pre WWI to post WWII American History, and I am actually getting my accreditation to teach high school after this.”

Cassie smiled shyly up at Jake standing over their table. “I’m a veterinary student. My parents actually own a rehabilitation clinic for wild life in Santa Barbara. After I graduate I’m gonna be working with both my parents in the clinic and doing what’s basically a work study to get a license.”

"That sounds really cool. I’m actually from Santa Barbara too.

“ Jake replied, smiling shyly.

Rachel coughed loudly, smirking at the two’s jump. “So any chance I can actually get help with this homework? Or are you two gonna be shy and awkward all night?”

Cassie blushed as she looked down at her book. “Sorry Rachel, just got carried away I guess.”

Jake scowled at his cousin as he took a seat next to Rachel, across from Cassie.

“It’s fine, just explain to me how to derive again.”

“Ok, so to derive, you just take the power, drop it and multiply it by whatever is already there. Then you decrease the power by one,” Cassie replied, showing Rachel an example.

Rachel scratched her head for a moment before her eyes lit up, nodding vigorously. “I think I get it now.”

They studied into the night.

~~~~~~

As it neared almost 1 AM, Cassie Rachel and Jake were taking turns yawning and poking the others awake again. As Rachel yawned loudly, her arms stretching above her head, she spoke. “So Jake, since David hasn’t come back yet, do you wanna just crash in Melissas bed?”

Jake nodded tiredly, rubbing his eyes. “Sure.”

Cassie looked up at that, looking nervous. “Actually Rachel, I was wondering if I could crash in your room too. My roommate just sent me a text that she had met a guy at a party and that I should make myself scarce tonight. I’ll sleep on the floor if I need to.”

Rachel nodded quickly. “Of course you can sleep over Cassie. And…” Rachel began before Jake cut her off.

“I’ll take the floor. I don’t wanna make you sleep on the floor. Plus, I’m used to it at this point. David has locked me out before.”

Cassie looked down, blushing slightly. “If you’re sure… I don’t wanna put anyone out.”

Rachel looked at Jake, a small smirk on her face, “What Jake, you don’t wanna cuddle with me? I mean we used to do it all the time on long car rides.”

“Yeah, but we aren’t 8 years old anymore. As much as you may act like it sometimes,” Jake replied, sticking his tongue out at his cousin.

“Yeah, I’m the childish one,” Rachel muttered, closing her calculus book and walking towards her room, Cassie and Jake trailing behind.

As they reached the room, Rachel let Cassie go first, telling her in muttered tones where pajamas were located. “We’ll wait outside for you to change.”

Cassie nodded, ducking inside the room and changing quickly, back outside in less than two minutes. “Wow, it was really cold in there. What in the world?”

Rachel ducked into the room as Jake spoke. “The heating systems in some of the rooms are going south. The only really good systems are in the lobbies. But it’s not so bad under a handful of covers.”

Rachel stuck her head out the door, smiling, “Alright guys, the room is ready.”

As Jake walked in, her couldn’t suppress the violent shiver that ran through him. “Holy crap it’s cold in here Rachel. What’s the low for tonight?” Jake asked, rubbing his arms vigouroulsy.

“It’s supposed to be like in the teens. Crazy crazy weather for some reason.”

Jake nodded once, curling up in his blankets and immediately falling asleep with Rachel and Cassie falling asleep soon after.

~~~~~~

Cassie was awoken with a sudden jolt. As she looked around, she heard a strangle clattering and thumping noise coming from the ground. As she looked down, she saw Jake shivering uncontrollably with his teeth chattering loud enough to wake the dead. When she looked closer, she saw that his lips were blue, and she jumped off of the bed and to his side immediately.

“Jake, Jake, wake up!” Cassie called quietly, shaking him roughly.

“Huh, Cassie? What’s up?” Jake asked, his words slightly slurred because of his chattering teeth.

“You’re going into hypothermic shock!” Cassie exclaimed, “You have to warm up, like now.”

“R-R-R-Rachel has a heating pad. I’ll just put that in here with me. It’ll do the job,” Jake replied, giving his best confident smile.

“Oh hell no,” Cassie replied, her tone firm. “Stand up right now, and get in the bed.”

Jake stood, wrapping his coverlet over himself. “No Cassie, I’m not gonna let you freeze yourself on the floor for me.”

Cassie stared at him blankly for a moment, reaching out and touching his cheek. Her hand was scalding hot in comparison, and it felt amazing. “I wasn’t planning on it. Body heat is the single best way to prevent hypothermia. Now get in the freaking bed and lay down before I make you. If that’s okay with you of course,” Cassie replied, her tone brooking no argument.

Jake nodded, “Fine by me.”

Jake started to lay down with the coverlet before Cassie stopped him again, pulling the coverlet out of his hands. “Nope, you aren’t bringing that cold blanket into bed. This is to prevent hypothermia, not encourage it. Oh, and take your shirt off,” Cassie said, already in the process of removing her sleep shirt, her sports bra on underneath.

“Wait what?” Jake asked, staring at her blankly, dropping the coverlet fully, his shirt unmoved.

Cassie finally scowled, grabbing and pulling his shirt off in one quick movement before pushing him down on the bed. “Pull the covers up and over so you can lay against the wall comfortably. It’ll be the easiest way to fit two on these beds. Plus there’s a electric blanket that’ll at least help you warm up.”

Jake lay against the wall, relaxing into the comprable warmth of the bed. “So why no shirts?” Jake asked, taking great pains to look Cassie in the eye.

“Skin to skin contact helps the transfer of heat easier. Plus a shirt is gonna keep cold in and heat out until the shirt changes to being warm instead of cold. Needless time waster when we can just strip like normal adults,” Cassie replied as she crawled into the bed, laying against Jake with her back to his front, putting as much contact between their skin as possible.

“Makes sens…” Jake started, dozing off before he could finish the second word.

Cassie closed her eyes, running her hands over Jake’s arms and hands, feeling his icy skin. As he warmed up, and she started to drift off, the last sensation she felt was something poking her in the backside, causing her to blush deeply. ‘Oh, well I guess he really did warm up.' Was Cassie's last thought before sleep claimed her.

~~~~~~~

Cassie snuggled deeper into the warmth surrounding her as she awoke. Feeling something poking her very seriously in her lower back, she turned her head, seeing Jake’s face. As she saw Jake’s face she realized she had a very faint breeze of warm air blowing against her neck. ‘Oh my word, that feels nice.' Cassie thought, her face flushing as she felt a twitch from Jake behind her. As she idly scratched her leg, she noticed that their legs were tangled together, and she noticed that she could feel Jake's entire front through her flimsy sleep clothes. His chest was a solid mass of heat now that he had gotten better. Cassie lazily drifted back to sleep, pulling Jake's arms around her tighter.

When Cassie awoke next, Jake was gone. As she glanced around the room, feeling a sudden pang of regret at the lost warmth, she saw a small folded piece of paper with ‘Cassie’ written in large block lettering. She snatched the letter up, reading it quickly.

Dear Cassie,

I’m really sorry I have to leave before you wake up. I had to get to an early class today, it’s biology. Maybe you could help me study? Haha, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. I just wanted to leave this not to apologize, and to thank you for last night. I probably would’ve been pretty sick without you to look after me. You’re really cool. Text me sometime if you ever wanna hang out or something.

From,

Jake Berenson

P.S. Sorry if anything poked you during the night. I didn’t mean for it to happen, just kinda did.

In the P.P.S. Jake left his phone number, and a glowing recommendation for her to text him and hang out with him. She felt herself smile at his exuberance as she dialed his number into her phone.


	2. Lunch and Inner Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cassie and Jake go out to lunch. They're awkward dorks.

Cassie stood in the lobby of the science building nervously, her phone in hand. ‘It’s just one text. To one boy. I shouldn’t be this nervous about it. What’s the worst that can happen?' With that she set her resolve, her fingers still shaking breifly before typing 'Hello Jake, woul” before she erased it. 'Nope. Too formal. He’ll probably think I’m messing with him.' 'Hi Jake, wanna gra” she started again, erasing it as well. 'Too informal, he’ll think I’m some bimbo.' With one final breath she started typing 'Hey Jake, I got your note about hanging out. I know this great sandwich place just off campus. If you wanna go grab some lunch, let me know when's good for you.' As she hit send, she felt her worries evaporate.

She jumped as she felt a vibrate less than a minute later. ‘Just got outta class. I have two hours till my next torture session, I mean class. If you’re free sometime in that time frame we can go!’ As she read Jake’s reply, her heart leapt into her throat.

'I'm actually free til then too. Meet me outside the Library? We can walk together. If you want that is.' Cassie replied, willing her heart to slow down.

As Cassie walked out of the science building, her fingers drumming along her thigh, she started walking to the Library, speeding up slightly as she saw his response. ‘Already here, just waiting on you pretty lady.’

When Cassie rounded the corner, she saw Jake leaning against a column, scanning the crowd. When he saw her face, he lit up, waving enthusiastically, calling her name. As she jogged over, his yelling quieted til he was left with a grin a mile wide on his face. “Hey there Cassie,” Jake greeted, his smile never wavering, his arms coming up almost like a hug but falling to his side’s before they fully got up. “So, you’ve got some secret but amazing sandwich shop you know about. Lead the way fair maiden.”

Cassie blushed at his words, her ears growing warm.”Its not exactly hidden or secret, I just know it’s really good,” Cassie replied, a small smile on her face. “You probably have already heard of it. And know where it is to boot.”

Jake shrugged, looking contemplatively up at the sky. “Maybe, maybe not. I probably would’ve suggested meeting anyways. More time to spend talking to you,” Jake admitted, scuffing his shoe on the ground as he walked.

Cassie stared at the ground, hiding a small smile. “That’s really sweet of you Jake,” She said quietly, her voice barely heard over the sound of street traffic.

They continued walking in silence, backs of their hands occasionally brushing. Shy hesitant glances shot back and forth between them, neither noticing the other with smiles on their faces.

Cassie stopped outside the sandwich shop, gently taking Jake’s hand as he kept walking, stopping him in his tracks. “We’re here,” She said shyly, letting go of his hand like it was a live wire.

Jake nodded at Cassie, flexing his hand softly, still able to feel her soft fingers on his. “Oh, I’ve actually never been here before. I thought you meant the Trolley-Shop down the street when you mentioned sandwiches.”

Cassie shook her head, opening the door for them both. “Nope, Wolfies is amazing for their sandwiches. And a lot cheaper than anywhere else. Like, less than 10 bucks for a sandwich, chips and a drink,” Cassie replied, stepping in and stepping to the side, letting Jake enter the small establishment.

“Welcome to Wolfies, how can I help you?” The person behind the counter asked, smiling at the two teens.

Cassie spoke first, “I’ll have a godfather, hold the lettuce and onions. Oh and a bag of original chips.”

The order taker put that down quickly. Glancing at both of their postures, their hands barely touching, neither one quite making eye contact, he said, “And for your boyfriend?”

Both teens jumped apart slightly, glancing at each other, then back at the order taker. “No, we aren’t togeth…” They both began at the same time, looking at each other sheepishly.

Jake cleared his throat, “I’ll just have a Reuben all the way. That’s all.”

The order taker took down the order, looking down at his booklet before ripping out the tickets, putting them to the side and walking to the back of the house.

As Jake and Cassie stood waiting, they gradually moved closer together, ending up shoulder to shoulder, hips pressing lightly against each other. Jake was the first to break the silence, “So… that was unexpected.”

Cassie nodded, smiling uncertainly up at Jake. “Yeah. I mean him thinking we were together, that’s kinda crazy,” Cassie said, continuing mentally. ‘I mean, broad shouldered handsome guys from the suburbs don’t go out with dumpy farm girls. Especially not the one’s with poop stained jeans and frizzy hair and love handles as big as mine are.’

Jake opened his mouth to say something, ready to ask what about them dating was so crazy when the order taker returned, carrying two sandwiches, balancing a small bag of chips on top.

He holds out the orders, telling them the totals softly, looking down at the counter more often than at the customers. “I’m really sorry if I caused any embarrassment or anything,” He started, giving them both an apologetic smile, “I’m just taking my senior seminar on body languages and I made an assumption. I was wrong, and I hope you come back again.”

Jake and Cassie both paid without speaking, nodding as he asked them to come again, giving him a supporting smile.

“Everyone makes mistakes. No real biggie man,” Jake replied, shaking his hand.

Cassie said nothing, just nodding one last time, walking outside and sitting down on the bench just outside the store. Jake followed her easily, unwrapping his sandwich and taking a bite as he sat down on the bench.

They ate in silence, both wrapped up in their own thoughts.

When Jake finished, he looked over at Cassie, her sandwich still a few bites from finished as she stared into her bag of chips, her mind clearly somewhere else.

“Everything ok Cassie?” Jake asked, touching her shoulder lightly, sending her a small smile. “If you don’t wanna talk, that’s fine. Just… I consider us friends even though we barely know each other. If I can help, tell me ok?”

Cassie looked at Jake, blinking a few times. “I’m fine Jake. I consider us… friends too. I’m glad that you do too.” Cassie managed her best convincing smile, closing her eyes as she looked into the sun.

“Okay…” Jake nodded, still not quite sold. “So where’s your next class?”

Cassie pulled out a small note card, glancing down at it for a moment before meeting Jake’s gaze again. “My next class is in Belk. I have Ancient Mediterranean Empires. It’s an elective.”

Jake nodded, chewing his bottom lip for a moment. “I would love if you would allow me to walk with you to your next class,” He paused for a moment, glancing at his hands. “Do you have Lentz or Bulmush for that class?”

Cassie consulted her notecard again, squinting to see the small writing. “I have Ralph Lentz. Wish I had known how much of a pompous ass he was before I took the class though. His lectures are sooooooo boring.”

Jake nodded in sympathy. “Tell me about it. I had him for three different classes. I still have my notes for his class. If you’d like, and if you can decipher them, I’ll let you have them.”

As Jake finished his offer, Cassie stood, tossing her trash away. “That sounds really good. I’m not doing bad in his class, but not falling behind taking notes will be awesome. I can barely stay awake most days.”

“Yeah, I imagine teaching Rachel calculus can be pretty tiring,” Jake said as he stood, smiling slightly at Cassie.

Cassie playfully swatted Jake on the arm, bumping her shoulder into his. “She’s not so bad. Probably won’t be as bad as me tutoring you in Bio,” Cassie replied, smiling at Jake again, truly genuine. “If you were serious that is. I mean, if you weren’t, no hard feelings. I just really love biology.”

Jake smiled, embarrassed beyond belief. “I actually meant that as a joke this morning, but after getting a test I thought I aced back and getting a C minus, I think I need the tutoring.”

Cassie took one look at Jake’s smile and returned her own bright smile. “That’ll be no problem. Bring me your syllabus, and your notes for the class and I’ll work something out.”

“That sounds sublime,” Jake said as they approached the history building, opening the door for her quickly. “If you want, I can pay you. In like food or heavy lifting. I’m pretty much broke outside of that.”

Cassie stopped Jake as they stood in the middle of the buildings foyer. “Jake, you don’t have to pay me anything. This is something I really enjoy doing. And I enjoy teaching people about it,” Cassie spoke slowly but firmly. “However if you want to buy me grapes and feed me as I tutor you like I’m a greek goddess, I won’t complain.”

“I’ll consider it,” Jake replied.“We really should go out to lunch again sometime.”

Cassie nodded slowly, pausing to speak until she was standing outside of her class. “Sounds really good.”

“How about tomorrow? I have the same time period free. It’s my study/refuel time every day.”

Cassie tilted her head to the side thinking, “Sounds good. But we should go somewhere to eat. Let’s explore all the restaurants. No need to try the same things over and over.”

“I agree. How about we try that place just down the street, what’s it called, Town Tavern I think?”

“It’s a date!” Cassie agreed enthusiastically, immediately blushing and ducking into her class room, not giving Jake a chance to respond. ‘Stupid, stupid stupid.' Cassie berated herself mentally, taking a seat in the back. 'Why would he wanna ever date you? Much less go on something even approaching a date with you. You already know that you’re just a silly girl with a crush. He want’s you to help him with his biology, and that’s it. He’s probably got some tall leggy, perfectly put together girl back home. Plus, when that clerk asked if you were dating he practically jumped away like he’d been burned.’

In a room a few doors down, Jake was staring blankly at professor Caldwells powerpoint, his mind stuck on the last few minutes. ‘Why would she say date like that? All happy like. I mean, I’m just a really tall lanky looking guy. I’m too broad around the shoulders and I move like a gecko trying to keep a spider down. Sometimes slow and deliberate, other times jumpy and crazy. I probably came on way too strong today. Plus, there’s no way she didn’t feel my problem this morning. I doubt that’s the thanks she wanted for saving me from getting super sick. I don’t blame her for not wanting to go out with me seriously. Hell, I wouldn’t date me. She’s probably got some awesome funny guy who isn’t awkward in public places and can control his body. Hopefully we can just enjoy our lunches together.’


	3. Lumberjacks and Flirting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cassie and Jake walk to class together and talk.

As Jake walked out of his class, he saw Cassie walking along the hallway, vaguely wondering how he never noticed her before. ‘She’s so damn pretty. How did I miss seeing her every other day this semester?' Jake wondered to himself, jogging to catch up to Cassie. “Hey, hey Cassie!” He called, waving his hands around.

As Cassie turned, her face lit up for a moment before falling into a neutral expression. “Hey Jake,” She replied, smiling brightly, not quite reaching her eyes.

“So, I never got a chance to thank you to your face for last night.”

“What do you mean? I just did what anyone would do. I couldn’t let you get sick. Or worse,” Cassie replied, her features soft.

Jake shook his head vigorously. “No, not that. Well not all that. Having someone to cuddle with. And not having to listen to David’s snoring meant that I got my first good nights sleep since the semester began.”

Cassie gave Jake a deadpan look. “Jake, I snore.”

Jake’s nose crinkled breifly. “Well yes, maybe so. But your snores match you.”

“How so?”

“Well they’re really small and cute and dainty. They match you really well,” Jake replied, kicking the ground with a blush suddenly springing up on his face, tinging his cheeks pink.

“And I assume David doesn’t have cute and dainty snores?”

Jake shook his head, a small laugh escaping. “Nah. He snores like I dance. Like a lumberjack with his remaining leg in a bear trap.”

“Remaining leg?” Cassie asked, her confusion evident on her face.

“Yeah, he lost the first in a freak lumberjacking accident. He chopped it off. He then replaced it with a tree stump. It’s all very logical,” Jake replied, a smile bubbling up as he talked about it.

“I see. Well maybe some day you can show me how a tragic lumberjack dances,” Cassie replied, shooting Jake a smile.

Jake shrugged, looking down at this feet. “Maybe, but you have to promise that you won’t laugh at me.”

“I make no promises that I can’t keep. Although I’ll promise to try.”

Jake checked his phone, sending off a quick text message before replying. “Close enough then. So uh, Rachel texted me just now and told me to ask you if you would help her study tonight.”

Cassie looked at Jake blankly. “What? I mean, I understand what you just said, and sure I’ll help, but why did she text you? Why not me?”

Jake shrugged his shoulders, an uncertain smile on his face. “I dunno. Maybe she saw us walking around together earlier and just assumed we’d still be walking together. Maybe she just assumed I’d respond faster, we’re on a family plan thing with my older brother Tom and her two younger sisters so messages between us feel faster.”

Cassie nodded after a moments thought, digging out a slightly beaten up older phone. “She’s probably right. I’ve had this since my junior year of high school. It doesn’t get very reliable service,” Cassie paused for a moment, dropping her phone back into her pocket. “Just one last thing I don’t get is why she would assume we’d be spending time together. She was still dead to the world when I left back to Bowie to shower and change.”

Jake shrugged again, taking a quick drink out of the water bottle hanging off his backpack. “She must’ve gotten up early and went for breakfast or a run or something. She does that sometimes. When I left for bio, she was gone. Must’ve just decided that going to physics wasn’t worth it.”

“Huh, never met someone that could do that before. She’ll have to teach me that trick. Tell her I’ll be glad to help, just gotta make it through organic chem before I do anything else,” Cassie replied, pulling out her phone, flicking through the pass code and pulling up the phone proper, glancing down at the backlit screen. “Turns out Rachel texted me before you. The message was sent to me almost an hour ago.”

“Oh wow. That’s kinda funny,” Jake replied, pulling his own phone out and check it as they continued walking. “So, what time do you get out of your chemistry course? Rachel has class til 6 today.”

“Uhhh, technically I get out at 4:50, but I’ll probably be out by 4:15 at the latest. Why do you ask?”

“I get out of my ethics class around 4. I was hoping maybe we could spend the time between you getting out of class and helping Rachel with her Calculus just hanging out, shooting the breeze, whatever. If you don’t want to spend those two hours with me, I’ll understand,” Jake says softly, looking away from Cassie, his cheeks slightly pinked.

Cassie leaned into Jake slightly, nudging his shoulder with her own. “I’d love to, if talking about animals with broken bones and my hatred of history with professor Lentz won’t make you run screaming into the hills.”

Jake shot Cassie a small smile, his lips barely moving. “I’ve had Lentz, and I can probably bore you just as much with my talking about small groups tactics, tactical warfare, and the use of super glue during the Vietnam war.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glue was used to help seal up cuts and other wounds without bacterial infection in Vietnam. That was it's original use. Not holding stuff together. *The more you know*


	4. Dinner and Interrupted Moments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jake and Cassie grab dinner in the cafeteria and talk about their past.

As Cassie walked out of the building shared between Chemistry, Astrophysics, Computer Science, Physics, and Astronomy, she glanced around and saw a set of shoulders that were growing more and more familiar to her over the day. While walking over she noticed that he was typing furiously on his phone, hunched over it, oblivious to the wider world.

“Don’t type too fast. You might punch through your phone,” Cassie joked shyly, leaning against the bench he was sitting at. “And then how will we meet up for lunch?”

Jake jumped at the sound of Cassie’s voice, his phone flying up into the air, “Holy crap Cassie. You scared the bejeezus out of me.”

Cassie immediately moved to stand in front of Jake, holding out her hands placatingly. “Oh my gosh Jake. I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize you were so jumpy. Otherwise I would’ve like coughed or something.”

Jake smiled thinly up at Cassie standing over him. “No, no, it’s fine. I was just wrapped up in texting… a friend.”

“Ah, anything interesting?” Cassie asked as Jake stood.

“Nah, not really. Rachel texted my friend and told them about some stuff that’s been happening to me lately. And my friend was texting me to ask if I was crazy,” At that, Jake shrugged, a quick jerky gesture.

“Why would your friend think you were crazy?” Cassie asked, concern in her voice.

“They’re mostly just being a pain in the rear, but it was about some stuff that happened between me and this girl that I’m really starting to like,” Jake began, looking up at the sky, glancing shyly at Cassie. “Rachel told them some stuff and they think it’s a lot more going on then there is.”

“I see,” Cassie replied, her tone carefully neutral. “I’m actually really hungry right now. The sandwich didn’t really fill me up I guess. Wanna grab dinner at the cafeteria?” She asked as she started walking towards the cafeteria.

Jake nodded quickly, his stomach taking that moment to rumble. “Yeah, I’m pretty hungry too. Plus I’m over budget on my meal plan, need to burn some more off.”

Cassie pulled out her wallet, looking for her own meal plan card. “I’m right about where I should be…” She started, trailing off after a moment of hunting with an embarrassed look on her face. “Or I would be if I could find my card.”

“Dinner will be my treat,” Jake replied, his hands swinging idly by his sides, his knuckles brushing Cassie’s wrists every few steps.

“Thanks Jake. I have no clue where I left my card. Must be back in my dorm room.”

“Just like my key was last night,” Jake said as he opened the door to the cafeteria.

“Yeah, I feel like such a doofus,” Cassie replied, ducking under Jake’s arm, walking into the cafeteria, waiting a few steps inside for Jake to catch up.

“You shouldn’t. Everyone leaves stuff in their dorm all the time. At least yours didn’t lead to having to sleep in your cousins room, almost getting very sick from hypothermia, and embarrassing yourself in front of a new, hopefully, friend.”

“Well I don’t normally share a bed with people I’ve known for less than 12 hours. So yeah, I’d definitely say friends,” Cassie replied, hip checking Jake, shooting him a smile.

Jake returned the smile before looking at what was available in the cafeteria, taking a moment to lightly push Cassie when she passed by him towards the salad bar. When he didn’t see anything that was terribly appetizing, Jake grabbed a bag of chips and a sleeve of sandwich cookies, debating on whether to grab a drink or not.

“Is that all you’re gonna eat Jake?” Cassie asked, surprising him for the second time that day.

Jake looked at his food, confusion on his face. “Yeah, it’s a good amount of food.”

“No Jake, that’s really not. At least not very healthy food. You need protein if nothing else. Just eating empty calories can’t be good for you,” Cassie replied, her tone firm as she placed her free hand on her hip.

“You sound like Rachel,” Jake grumbled, snagging a cheeseburger off of the heating area near the grill. “She’s always fussing at me for my eating habits. And how I dress. And how I wear my hair. And how I’m awkward around pretty girls. I tend to babble on and on around them you see and… I’m doing it again aren’t I? Babbling I mean.”

“Yeah, you are,” Cassie replied, nodding towards the cashiers. “Shall we go?”

Jake nodded, juggling his food to grab his meal card. “Sure,” He replied, walking towards the cashiers, “Just let me get my meal card out.”

Cassie stopped for a moment and stared at Jake’s juggling act before snatching the food out of his hands, her hands grazing his, and placing the food on her tray. “There, that works better doesn’t it.”

Jake flashed Cassie a brief grateful smile. “Yeah. It really does. Thanks!”

Cassie smiled back, her hands briefly tingling with the feeling of his hands on hers.

Scene break

Cassie and Jake sat together, in the main floor lobby of his dorm, watching the people walk by as they talked. “How are classes going?” Jake asked, leaning back in his chair.

“Pretty good now that I have a tutor for Lentz,” Cassie replied, smiling shyly at Jake. “Calculus isn’t too bad, my pre-calc teacher in high school was really great. Organic chemistry isn’t giving me too many fits. I love the curriculum, which definitely helps out. I think my only complaint is with Esplins statistics class.”

“What’s wrong with his stats class?” Jake asked, his own smile shy. “He’s a pretty decent guy once you get to know him.”

“Oh he’s a great person, and I love going by his office to talk after class. It’s just… he’s so scatter brained. If someone mentions tea or Washington D.C., we don’t even learn anything that class period. He just talks and talks and talks and forgets about trying to teach us.”

“Yeah, he can do that sometimes. I met him on my college tour. His twin brother actually works with my big brother.”

“That sounds neat. Any chance you can talk him into giving me a good grade?” Cassie asked jokingly.

“Nah, but I can give you a neat little trick. It works with his brother at least. Just ask him how whatever he’s talking about relates to the lesson at hand. He’ll snap back to focus like nobodies business.”

“That’s gonna be really useful, I need to pass this class for my degree,” Cassie replied, her voice light. “So, where did you go to school Jake?”

“I went to the local high school back in Santa Barbara for all 4 years. I actually just stayed in the city system the entire time, not the county schools.”

“Really? Same here. I wonder how we never met in high school,” Cassie replied, he knee knocking against Jake’s as she turned to him.

“Not a clue. I kinda kept to myself. Only really hung out with Marco and Tobias. And I didn’t do any extra curriculars. I normally just rushed home so I could spend some time with my big brother before dinner.”

“That’s really sweet of you Jake. You and your brother were close?” Cassie asked, her shoulder bumping Jake’s as she turned more towards him.

“Yeah, we were pretty close. Tom was a really great guy, still is. He actually moved recently. Around the beginning of this semester he got a job offer to go work in New Mexico with some big wig psychiatrist,” Jake replied, pausing to glance down at his feet. “He actually had some mental health issues when he was in high school. Like total dissociative breakdown. So he went into mental health medicine.”

“Is he okay now? I mean was the incident isolated? Or did he disassociate fully enough for him to form alters? “ Cassie replied, leaning closer to Jake, placing a hand on his knee gently. “I don’t mean to pry, it’s just… this is something a good friend of my family had, and I did a lot of research on it when I was in high school.”

“I wish I knew myself Cassie. Tom never really talks about it,” Jake replied, placing his own hand over Cassie’s. “He always says he’s better than he was, which is really great, but it’s also a cop out. He just… he won’t open up to anyone about it. He just spends all his time with Dr. Semitaur at the Sharing corporation and says that he’s helping people and working on his stuff. And that’s all I hear about it.”

“Oh wow Jake, that…” Cassie began, struggling to find the right words.

“I’m sorry Cassie, you probably don’t wanna hear about my brother and his issues. You’re just the first person who knows about disassociation,” Jake said, his thumb absently rubbing over Cassie’s knuckles, smiling at his shoes wistfully. “At least the first person that I trust.”

Cassie blushed at the feel of his thumb over her knuckles. ‘His hands are so warm. I wonder if his lips are that warm?' Cassie thought, her head tilting towards Jake, her eyes starting to close. 'If I kiss him will his lips be as warm, will they leave that strange tingling feeling in their wake like his fingers do?' Cassie thought, beginning to lean in, her eyes fully closed.

Jake saw Cassie’s movements, viewing her leaning in, leaning in towards her slowly, his eyes open as they slowly moved towards each other. ‘What’s happening? Why is she doing this? Am I misreading the signals?Or is she really about to kiss me?' Jake thought to himself, his mind flying, his eyes locked onto her face.

“Hey guys!” Rachel called out, waving to Jake and Cassie as she walked into the lobby. “Didja miss me?” Jake and Cassie jumped apart, both wearing equally guilty looks that Rachel picked up on. She saw the looks her mouth thinned into a narrow line.

“Oh Rachel, I uh, I didn’t see you there,” Cassie began, her face burning, looking anywhere but Jake. ‘Stupid stupid stupid. Why did I try to kiss him? He looks so guilty. He’s probably thinking of some girl he has back home. He probably thinks I’m being really strange doing that.’

“Yeah, uh, I thought you had class til 6,” Jake replied, reaching down to retie his shoe, needing something to do with his hands. ‘I can’t believe I was about to kiss her. I was probably reading the signals wrong. She won’t even look at me now, I’m such an idiot, falling for someone who probably won’t ever think of me like that.’

“It’s fine Cass,” Rachel replied, shooting her friend a blinding pearly white smile. “And by the way Jake, it is 6. Come on buddy, you should be able to read a clock.”

“There’s no way. Me and Cassie just sat down and started talking like 5 minutes ago. It was not a minute after 5,” Jake disputed, shooting Rachel a dirty look.

Cassie glanced at the clock, still avoiding looking at Jake except to pan over him in search of a clock, her face flushing deeper crimson. “Actually, Jake, Rachel is right. She uh… I mean, it really is after 6.”

“Holy crap, really?” Jake asked, looking around for the clock, his brow crinkling as he saw the face of it. “Wow, well then. That really sucks. I was enjoying talking to you Cassie.”

“Yeah, me uh, me too,” Cassie replied, a small smile in Jake’s general direction. “Guess that old saw about time flying when you’re having fun is true.”

“Yeah, I guess so. Certainly seems that way,” Jake replied, chewing his bottom lip worriedly.

“So are we ever gonna go up and study? Or are you two gonna continue talking around me like I’m not here?” Rachel spoke up, smiling thinly.

“Oh, sorry Rachel. I guess we kinda got wrapped up in our own conversation. Nothing personal,” Cassie replied, smiling up at her friend.

Cassie and Jake stood in tandem, their shoulders bumping together, their hands brushing. When Jake ducked, reaching back to grab his bag, his head brushing against Cassie’s hand, her fingers idly running through his hair. When Jake stood back up, his cheeks were dusted with pink and the smile wouldn’t leave his face.

Rachel rolled her eyes at the two before turning and beginning to walk towards the stairs. “Come on guys. Let’s get a move on.” She smirked triumphantly as she heard them following.


	5. Girl Talk and Sleeping Arrangements

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rachel and Cassie discuss things. Cassie can't go home. Also Jake sleeps topless because reasons.

Rachel sat down at the table, watching as Jake went to his dorm room, sparing one glance back at Cassie before he closed the door. As Cassie sat down, Rachel opened her text book, she glanced over to her study partner. “So, what in the world is going on between you and my cousin?” Rachel asked, her tone light.

Cassie jumped in her seat, her hands fumbling with her math book for a moment. “What… uh what do you mean Rachel?”

“I mean there is SOMETHING going on between my cousin and you. And I don’t have the slightest clue what that is. I care about Jake, and I don’t wanna see him hurt,” Rachel replied, her voice quiet but serious.

“Look, Rachel. I don’t know if something is going on. I mean, yeah, I kinda feel like there’s something there, some kinda chemistry, but I’m just not sure. I just, I like Jake as a friend and I wanna have anything that happens be between friends first, not just something… romantic I guess,” Cassie said, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her palms. “It’s just… I’ve seen relationships go to hell because they jumped into it to fast. And I don’t have many friends as is, and I don’t wanna lose one because we tried to start something that wasn’t even really formed yet.”

Rachel nodded, placing one of her hands over Cassie’s fiddling with the text book. “Well, we were friends once upon a forever ago. I mean, you were awesome when I met you back in third grade. And you were always there for me through everything with my parents. When I needed to talk to someone about the fighting and the screaming and the everything, you were the person I could turn to. And, I’m not lying even a little bit when I say that I would love to be your friend again.”

Cassie looked down, tears welling up in her eyes. “Did… did my friendship really mean that much to you?”

“Yeah, it really really did. I mean, some of the only nights that kept me from going crazy were the nights at your house where we stayed up all night in your room and played with dolls. Those nights where we could only see by the light of the television because if you turned on the lights your parents would see. Those are the nights that I never forgot. Even when I was in Chicago, and my dad brought over women that he really liked and that he wanted me to like, when I cried into my pillows and screamed and cried that I wanted to go home and that I wanted them to get back together, those nights kept me grounded.”

“That means a lot to me Rachel. I’m glad those nights meant that much to you. I really don’t know what to say. I never realized that I was such a huge part of your life,” Cassie replied, clearing her throat once. “So uh, what are we onto now in class? I kinda slept through class this morning if you’ll remember.”

“We’re still on derivatives. But working with rules of derivatives. Like the product rule and the quotient rule. All of that stuff,” Rachel replied, shrugging. “I get most of it, just don’t understand all of the u’s and v’s in the formula.”

Cassie nodded at Rachel, a smile on her face. “Those letters, they’re place holders. They’re just the most commonly used letters, don’t ask me why. You can really just think of them as different values of x or whatever the variable is that’s being derived.”

“Thanks, that makes everything make a lot more sense,” Rachel replied, making a note in her notebook. Rachel flipped open her notebook to a new page, beginning the homework, asking Cassie any other questions she had.

Scene Break

After almost an hour of studying, Cassie felt a vibration against her thigh. As she pulled her phone out, she read the senders name ‘Taylor’. After opening and reading the message, her shoulders slumped as she looked over at Rachel. “I really hate asking Rachel, especially after your kind words earlier, but is there any way I could crash with you again? Melissa said the guy shes been hooking up with is coming over again, Davis or Davies or something.”

“Cassie, it’s perfectly fine. You don’t ever have to ask it’s not like you’ll be putting anyone out. The only issue is that Melissa is back from her gymnastics thing.”

“That’s not too bad. That cold snap that hit last night is passed right?” Cassie asked.

“Actually no, they’re calling for another really bad cold snap tonight. It’s supposed to be almost as cold as last night. I can maybe let you borrow a heating pad and just keep it under the covers with you,” Rachel replied, her voice concerned.

“That probably won’t help. To get enough heat to make a difference it would probably short out under the covers or start a really bad fire. I don’t think it would be a good idea to risk it,” Cassie replied.

“Hmmm, well you could always just see if Jake will let you crawl into bed with him again. He’s all big and warm and sturdy right?” Rachel asked, smiling at the blush on Cassie’s face.

“What was that?” Jake asked, walking from his room, carrying his backpack on one shoulder. “I’m sure I heard my name.”

“Oh nothing, just talking about the weather dear cousin,” Rachel replied. “Oh, and Cassie’s sleeping arrangements. Why have you emerged from your hole in the wall?”

“The rat actually just left. You know I don’t like leaving him alone in the room for long periods of time,” Jake replied as he sat, pulling out his books. “Said he was leaving to go study with a friend. Tanner or something.”

“Well that’s good for him. He’s getting serious about his education,” Rachel replied, doodling idly in her notebook.

“I really really doubt that,” Jake replied, blushing breifly as he glanced over at Cassie. “He took his computer, a change of clothes and his huge ass box of condoms that he leaves on his desk. He left all of his text books and his notebooks.”

“He keeps a box of condoms on his desk?” Cassie asked, glancing down at her lap.

“Well kinda. He had a big box at the start of the semester. He leaves it there as some kinda manly thing I guess. I don’t really know.”

Rachel cleared her throat, chuckling after a moment. “So uh… that’s nice for him.”

“Yeah. So Cassie, what was that about your sleeping arrangements?” Jake asked, sending her a small smile.

“I can’t go back to my dorm room tonight,” Cassie replied with a shrug. “She said that she’s got some guy she’s been hooking up with coming over. And so I asked Rachel if I could crash on her floor.”

“I of course said yes, being the kind and wonderful person I am,” Rachel said, grinning at Cassie.

“Isn’t there gonna be some kind of cold snap tonight like there was last night?” Jake asked, pulling our his phone, typing something into the search bar. “I’m sure I saw it on the weather report.”

“Yeah, there is supposed to be one. Almost as bad as last night I’ve heard,” Cassie replied. “But I’ll be fine, I just need to grab a pair of sweats from Rachel if she’ll let me.”

Jake glanced between his new friend and his cousin. “If you’d like Cassie, you can stay in my room tonight. David is gone, he never comes back after a hook up. He either stays with them or goes out and drinks like a fish with some buddies of his. He always comes back hungover as shit after those nights.”

“That sounds pretty terrible. Him coming back hungover I mean, not letting me crash in your room. That actually sounds really excellent,” Cassie replied, idly playing with one of her braids. “I only have one question. Where would I be sleeping? I mean, if he might come back drunk before I wake up, and I’m sleeping in his bed, that’s gonna be super awkward. And I can’t exactly kick you out of your bed.”

Jake smiled at Cassie, shyly clearing his throat. “I was kinda thinking that I would just take Daivids bed. He’s used mine when I was out and he had a friend over.”

“Or you two could share again,” Rachel piped up, enjoying watching them jump again. “As a last resort of course. I mean you both seemed to sleep really well last night, and I don’t wanna see either of you sick because of the cold.”

Jake and Cassie both blushed, looking away from each other. Jake took the time to shoot Rachel a dirty look. “That’s a definite option cousin,” Jake said, his voice deceptively calm. “Or I could try to avoid making this budding friendship super awkward.”

“Actually Jake, if it won’t bother you, I’d be okay with it. I mean it is supposed to get really cold, and last night I was really warm,” Cassie began, still fiddling with one of her braids. “Plus, I really do like cuddling up with people to be totally honest. It’s not something you get to do very often with no siblings, few friends, and not a single cousin that’s within a decade of your age.”

“Are you sure Cassie? I mean I don’t wanna make you at all uncomfortable,” Jake replied, feeling a blush creeping up on him. “Plus, trust me, having cousins and siblings aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.”

“Awww Jakey boy. Don’t say that. You know you love me.”

“Like an impacted tooth,” Jake replied dryly.

“I know you don’t mean that,” Rachel replied, her hands stretching upward, a yawn escaping her lips. “And as much as I would like to stay here and trade jokes with you, it’s getting late and I wanna head to bed. Night to the both of you.” As she stood, she heard both Jake and Cassie’s muttered good nights.

As Rachel rounded the corner, Jake scooted closer to Cassie, pulling out a few sheets of paper and his notebook. “So what do you wanna get started on first? Me tutoring you in history or you teaching me how biology works?”

“That depends. I don’t have anything big coming up until about a month from now in hell with Lentz. When’s your next bio test?” Cassie asked, scooting her own chair slightly closer.

“A week or two. We have a lot of tests in that class. But they aren’t like high point value per test. Like I think the highest one is the final at 25% of our grade. Only like 50% of the grade is the tests, but we have like 10 tests I think.”

“In that case, we should probably work on your biology first. You have a test sooner than I do,” Cassie replied, taking the sheets of paper out of Jakes hands, skimming them briefly. “So we’ll start with…” Jake zoned out for a moment, just watching Cassie’s lips move, the melody of her voice in his ears, the words blurring together. “How does that sound Jake?”

“Huh? Sorry Cass, I just kinda zoned out there.”

“I just said that we’d work together up until your next test, and then see where you are. If you wanted to keep working with me and all that. That way if you don’t feel that my tutoring is up to par I don’t waste your time,” Cassie replied, a smile on her face.

“Sounds good to me,” Jake said, his hands fidgeting with a loose string on his shirt. “But, uh, I just wanna say that no matter what happens with my grade and all of that, even if I don’t need your tutoring, I’d still love to hang out and spend time with you. You’re really cool and I enjoy our time together.”

“Thanks Jake. That really means a lot to me. I enjoy our time together too. It’s different than I’m used to, but a good different. It feels like I can talk to you really easily, and I really really like that. I really hope that never changes, even if stuff between us changes, I hope you’ll always be able to talk to me easily.”

‘What is that supposed to mean? Does she think I’m gonna stop talking to her if she tells me that she’s not interested in me. I have been coming on kind of strong.' Jake thought to himself, taking a deep breath before he started talking. “Me too. I really hope we are still able to talk no matter what happens. I really like you Cassie, and as annoying as getting locked out was, I'm glad it happened.”

“I agree with you 100% Jake. These last 24 hours have been kinda weird, a little strange, but definitely good to experience,” As Cassie paused to collect her thoughts, Jake let out a huge yawn, his jaw opening so wide Cassie worried for a moment it’d unhinge before his mouth snapped shut, his teeth clacking together. “And on that note, I think it’s time to get you to bed. You’re exhausted.”

Jake nodded his head sleepily, rubbing his eyes as another yawn hit him. “Definitely. Despite how good I slept last night having a 9 AM bio class means that I get wiped out way to easily,” Jake replied, picking up his books and notebooks before reaching for Cassie’s. “Can I carry your books for you?”

Cassie stared at Jake for a moment, barking a short laugh before nodding her head. “Sure Jake, that’s very sweet of you.”

“What’s so funny?” Jake asked, scooping the books up, kicking the chair back under the table.

“Nothing, just that was almost verbatim the first thing my dad said to my mom. He asked if he could carry her books for her and if he could escort the ‘fair maiden’ to her next class. His English class was working on European medieval literature.”

“Interesting,” Jake said, his words slightly mumbled as he balanced his books in one hand, holding them steady with his chin as he opened the door to his room. “You go on in and change, pajamas are in the bottom drawer of the dresser, my side is on your left.”

“Thanks,” Cassie said softly as she stepped through the door, pushing it gently shut behind her.

When the door opened again, Jake took one look at Cassie before he cleared his throat. “You look nice Cassie.”

“Thanks Jake. I’m gonna go grab something from the vending machines downstairs while you change okay?” Cassie replied, stepping around Jake carefully, shooting him a shy smile.

“Sounds good. Just knock when you come back up,” Jake said as he opened the door. ‘Come on Jake. Snap out of it buddy. Yeah, she looks good in your sweats and a way oversized t-shirt, beautiful even. But that’s not something you need to be thinking. She’s your friend, and you can’t ruin this growing friendship by trying to make it something it isn’t.' Jake thought to himself as he changed, running a finger through his hair as he brushed his teeth.'She won’t like you like that, she’s smart and funny and cool. And you’re just the geeky guy that she likes to cuddle with. Don’t make it more than it is. At the end of the day it only really ends in pain and heartbreak like that.’

As he was rinsing off his toothbrush, he heard a hesitant knock on his door. “Jake, can I come in?”

“Come on in, it’s open and I’m as decent as I’m gonna get,” Jake called through the door.

Cassie opened the door, sticking just her head in, eyes covered with her hands, peeking between her fingers until she saw Jake fully clothed. “Sorry, wasn’t exactly sure what that meant,” Cassie said, slipping inside the door, closing it behind her. “So you ready for bed?”

“Yup, just got done brushing my teeth as you knocked,” Jake replied, climbing into the bed.

“Excellent, because I am wiped out and they didn’t have the candy bar I wanted. I just wanna lay down and go to sleep,” Cassie said as she climbed into the bed after Jake, shooting him a smirk. “Oh, but don’t worry Jake, you can keep your shirt on tonight.”

“Actually, I prefer to sleep with a shirt off,” Jake replied as he lay down, his back against the wall. “I just didn’t wanna make you feel uncomfortable with sharing a bed again tonight.”

Cassie lay down, snuggling back into him, wriggling around until their limbs were situated in the perfect position. “You can take it off if you want. Not like I’ve never seen a shirtless guy before, or shared a bed with one.” ‘Ignoring the fact that you’re the only guy in real life that fits either of those criteria.' Cassie thought to herself as she felt Jake moving behind her. 'At least ignoring the pool for that first one.' Cassie added silently as she saw Jake's shirt fall to the ground, his skin much warmer through the single layer separating them.

“Good night, sweet dreams Cassie,” Jake said quietly, hugging her gently so she moved slightly more into his embrace.

“Same to you Jake,” Cassie said, squeezing his arms with her hand, giving him the best hug she could as she slowly drifted off to sleep.


	6. Cuddles, Hugs, and Relationship Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jake and Cassie talk on the way to lunch.

Cassie snuggled deeper back into the warmth surrounding her, her mind beginning to sink back into the thick blanket of sleep when she heard static cutting through the haze, waking her up rudely. As she flailed forward she was saving from falling off the bed by a pair of arms wrapped around her midsection. After a moment of panic she remembered Taylors texts about having a hookup and being told to make herself scarce. After another moment she remembered that she was in Jake’s bed, and that he was still asleep holding onto her, and that was him pressed so close to her.

“David, I swear to god,” Jake mumbled, his voice still mostly thick with sleep, “If you don’t turn that god forsaken radio off I’ll shove it up your…”

“Jake, Jake,” Cassie spoke up, wriggling in his arms as the radio fizzled before going quiet, “David isn’t here right now. It’s, uh… it’s just me and you right now Jake.”

“Good,” Jake replied, his voice still mostly fogged with sleep, his arms pulling Cassie tight against him, his nose buried into her hair. “I’d rather just spend all my time with you.”

Cassie blushed, opening her mouth to return the sentiment when she heard soft steady snores begin to emanate from Jake. ‘Oh, he was probably still mostly asleep. Dreaming about someone else I bet.' Cassie thought to herself, letting herself drift back into the warm fog of sleep.

She dreamed of Jake, his arms around her as they danced, his nose buried in her hair as she rested her head on his chest, his heart beating a steady tempo. She dreamed that they kissed and of whispered sweet nothings shared only between them.

When she awoke, Jake was still holding her against him, his arms warm around her waist. And she was late to calculus. As she wriggled out of Jakes arms, she turned and hugged him gently. “Thanks a lot Jake” Cassie whispered, sincerity clear in her tone. “You were a great person to snuggle up with in the night, andifyoueverwannadothisagainjustletmeknow,” Cassie rushed out, still nervous despite knowing he was asleep, her voice slightly airy towards the end.

Cassie grabbed her backpack as she looked around the room for her shoes, spotting them under Jake’s desk. After she grabbed her shirt she paused for a moment, looking over at Jake deep asleep, his face relaxed. ‘I can’t believe I’m about to do this. If he wakes up, I’ll never live it down.' She felt heat creep up over her entire face, making her feel like her face was on fire as she stripped her, well actually Jake's, shirt off, switching into her own shirt quickly. As she debated switching into her own pants she noticed the time, grabbing her backpack and running out the door, doubling back to neatly fold Jakes shirt and leave it on the bed next to him. When Cassie spared a glance back towards Jake as she left, she saw him pulling the shirt towards him, burying his face in the soft fabric.

Scene Break

When Cassie slid into her calculus class she glanced around the room, her eyes sliding over the room, unable to meet anyone’s eyes. “Sorry for being late. I overslept and I got lost on the way over, I was helping a friend study and… you don’t really care do you?”

At the teachers curt shake of the head, Cassie felt her shoulders slump, sliding into her seat next to Rachel. “What’d I miss?” Cassie whispered, her voice barely loud enough for Rachel to hear.

“Not much, just talking about the quiz coming up in the next week or so. Plus he’s decided to drop our lowest quiz grade, you remember that he was debating that,” Rachel whispered back, nudging Cassie with her shoulder as she smirked. “So how was the night with Jake? Don’t think I didn’t notice those are his sweats. They’re almost falling off your hips.”

“It was good. Warm, like really really warm. I slept like a rock,” Cassie replied as she opened her book. “It was really really nice having someone to cuddle with finally.”

“You cuddled with him the night before last too,” Rachel reminded her, nudging Cassie with her shoulder. “What, was it not as warm and nice the first time around?”

“Rachel,” Cassie began, her tone deadpan. “He was hypothermic the first time around. How exactly do you think it was?”

“Oh, so that’s why you were both half naked in Melissa’s bed. That explains so so much.”

“Of course that’s the reason. What did you think had happened?” Cassie asked, her tone confused.

“I didn’t know, and I kinda assumed I didn’t want to know. I mean it was obvious Jake thought you were attractive from the way he acted around you. I kinda figured you guys had started to fool around or whatever, got like halfway through, decided it was enough for one night and just fell asleep.”

Cassie was sure her face was hot enough to ignite the air around her, a look of pure mortification on her face. “I’m sorry, what?” Cassie squeaked, barely managing to keep her voice low.

“What? You’re both mostly consenting adults. I figured one of you would tell me what was going on eventually,” Rachel replied, smiling at Cassie. “Plus, I kinda didn’t wanna know about Jake’s romantic life.”

“There’s no romantic life for Jake!” Cassie exclaimed, hastily adding, “At least not where I’m concerned.”

“Well yes, I know that now,” Rachel said, smiling wickedly at Cassie, “But you want there to be one don’t you?”

“I don’t know. Yes, no, maybe. I mean, I barely know him, there’s just this attraction there that I really can’t deny. Now, let’s focus on class,” Cassie replied, staring intently at the front of the class room.

Scene Break

“So,” Jake began, walking next to Cassie towards Town Tavern. “How was class?”

“Fun. Or as fun as calculus can get. I was actually late, so that was less than fun,” Cassie replied, scooting closer to Jake, a cold breeze felt in the air.

“Oh my gosh. Why were you late?” Jake asked, stuffing his hands into the pocket of his hoodie.

“I overslept. That’s all,” Cassie answered.

“Oh,” Jake said, his fingers picking at each other inside the pocket of the hoodie. “I didn’t do anything to make you late did I?”

‘Other than being an amazing pillow, and making me feel warm, safe, and secure? No, you didn’t do anything.' Cassie thought to herself as she walked, looking down and smiling slightly, a warm feeling spreading in her gut. “You didn't do anything wrong Jake. I just haven't been sleeping good lately. These past two night's have been the best sleep I've gotten since the semester started.”

“I’m really glad Cassie. It’s uh… it’s been the same for me. Living with David this past semester and change has been a special brand of hell,” Jake said, scuffing his shoes, tilting his head back towards the clouds. “Do you promise?” Jake asked after a moment of comfortable silence. “About me not doing anything wrong and making you oversleep?” Jake clarified quickly, his voice vaguely nervous. “I mean, I know that I’m a really heavy duty cuddler, and that I tend to be kinda…”

“Jake,” Cassie interrupted, stutter-stepping to stand in front of him, placing one hand flat against his chest. “I promise that you didn’t do a single thing wrong. Last night was wonderful, and everything about it felt right. Me being late was my fault. That’s it.”

Jake took another step as Cassie managed to get in front of him, their chests going flush against each other, her hand on his chest making his heart race, his pupils dilate, the hair on the back of his neck stand on end as goosebumps pebble his skin. “Thank you Cassie,” Jake responded, his arms coming up of their own accord, hugging her without thinking.

“You’re welcome Jake,” Cassie muttered into his jacket, her hand on his chest snaking up, ghosting over his neck, causing a shudder from the cold, her other hand coming to rest in his hair, tangling with the hair at the nape of his neck.

As the moment seemed to stretch on and on, Jake felt warmth pool in the pit of his stomach, his hands clenching into fists as he held Cassie tighter for a moment before loosening his grip. “So uh,” Jake said, talking into the top of Cassie’s head, “Sorry about that. I don’t really know what came over me,” Jake said, his thoughts running a mile a minute. ‘But it was really really nice I have to admit. Kinda can’t believe she hugged back. She’s so… small, I really can’t believe I didn’t hurt her.’

As Cassie took her own step back, her hands slowly releasing Jake’s hair, a small smile on her face. “Jake, no need to apologize. I like hugs,” Cassie replied, chewing her bottom lip after a moment. “I’m not… close with people. Not like that. Not in a way that’s physical. And well, I like having that kind of physically close relationship where you can just hug someone and cuddle with them and all that.”

“Yeah, I get that,” Jake replied as he moved to stand slightly to one side of Cassie, offering her his arm in silent invitation to continue walking. “I’m a lot like that, I love just physical closeness with people, I just have a hard time telling people that because everyone assumes that wanting to just cuddle up with them means I want to get in their pants.”

“Yeah, an old friend of mine had that same issue,” Cassie said, linking her arm with Jake, walking slowly. “He lived in Australia when my parents and I visited my mothers family down there. Yami was his name. He was asexual, but he was like me and you with liking the physical touching and cuddling and all of that. He was my… uh, or rather we had the kinda of relationship we’ve been talking about. He was a really good friend,” Cassie said softly, moving so Jake’s arm was looped over her shoulders, moving close to him. “I wouldn’t mind having that kind of relationship with you. I mean if that’s okay of course. We both like the cuddling and the physical closeness, and I mean it’s not like it has to be anything we don’t want it to be, and it’s not like it’ll ruin our friendship or anything.”

Jake smiled down at Cassie, squeezing her with his arm around her shoulder, “I think I’d like that. We’re both consenting adults. Plus, I really like cuddling and spending time with you,” Jake replied, his mind working as he spoke. ‘Don’t get too excited Jake. It’s not because she likes you. You’re only good for cuddling up with and snuggling. It’s not even a little bit romantic for her probably, she did it with a friend. Probably do this with anyone who would want to cuddle.’

Cassie snuggled deeper into Jake’s side, one hand reaching up to lace her fingers with his, her hand cold as ice against Jake’s warm flesh. ‘This will be different than with Yami. Yami was up front about liking me, and I knew that I liked Yami. Just because it was romantic with him doesn’t mean that I can’t differentiate now. Just because Yami was my boyfriend doesn’t mean Jake will become my boyfriend, and I can’t expect anything to happen. I can differentiate here, and I will.’

As they walked to the restaurant, both with a familiar feeling of warmth pooling in their guts, Jakes hand transferring a bit of his warmth into Cassie by their linked hands, they both thought of the other and what their relationship would be.


	7. Clothes, Tickets, and Seducing Cousins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't know what to say here. Talk and relationship stuff.

“Hey Cassie, can you do me a favor?” Jake asked, staring blankly at his biology notes.

“Sure, what’s up?” Cassie replied, her history notes discarded at the end of the couch.

“Can you remind me before you leave to call my dad? It’s his birthday today, and I kinda promised him I’d remember to call this year.”

“Sure, is your dad’s birthday really the 13th of February?” Cassie asked, leaning her cheek against Jakes arm slung over her shoulder. “Day too early for Valentines, and a day too late to share with Lincoln. And a Friday the 13th to boot.”

“Yeah, happens every few years. He claims to hate it when it rolls around on a Friday. Claims he’s cursed,” Jake replied, the arm over Cassie’s shoulder moving slightly, his fingers drawing nonsensical patterns over her arms.

“Cursed by what?” Cassie asked, shifting her upper body, her upper half mostly covering Jake’s.

“Changes year to year,” Jake murmured, the arm over Cassie’s shoulder moving to drape around her waist, her skin warm beneath his fingertips.

“Yeah,” Rachel spoke up, finally glancing up from her studying, rolling her eyes at the two cuddled up on the couch. “Remember that time it was the giant centipedes?”

Jake nodded, his brows knitting together, “Yeah, the centipedes that were being helped by the… what was it again, slugs and the evil blue centaur?”

“Oh, this is a story I need to hear,” Cassie said softly, cuddling into Jake.

Jake shook his head silently, beginning to open his mouth before Rachel spoke up. “Jake won’t talk about that time. It was around the time of Tom’s break. It… it wasn’t good for anyone involved.”

“I’m sorry Jake, I didn’t mean to dredge up more bad memories,” Cassie said quietly, her hand covering Jake’s.

“It’s fine Cassie. No harm, no foul,” Jake replied, a small shy smile on his face as he glanced into her eyes.

“I’ll make it up to you with lunch,” Cassie said, returning her own smile. “Then after, study date? I have my first big test, not quiz, test with Lentz coming up. I’d really appreciate your help Jake.”

“Sounds do-able,” Jake replied, his voice becoming thick with exhaustion as the night wore on. “Wanna meet over on Rivers just off campus? We can meet up at the dog grooming place, you know the one near the restaurant we tried like a week ago.”

“You mean Hot Diggity Dog?” Cassie asked.

“That’s the one!” Jake exclaimed, a small secret smile on his face when he hears Cassie’s voice.

“Wait, is that the groomer or the restaurant?” Rachel asked, more interested in watching Jake interact with Cassie than her homework.

“It’s the restaurant,” Cassie replied, covering her mouth as a yawn escaped her lips. “The groomer is called ‘Spic-n-Span-iel.’”

“That’s acually petty cute,” Rachel said, yawning herself, stretching breifly before beginning ot pack her bags up. “Well kiddos, it’s my bed time. I’ll see you both later. Oh yeah, Jake, by the way, after you get back to the building from lunch, I need to talk to you okay?”

“Sure Rach, no biggie. I’ll talk to you tomorrow afternoon. Night cuz.”

As Cassie said her own good nights to Rachel, promising to be there in a second, she hugged Jake again. “Well as much as I don’t want it to be, it’s my bed time. Good night Jake, sweet dreams,” Cassie said softly, leaning down and hugging Jake tightly, wrapping him up in her arms. “And remember to call your dad, I know how important he is to you.”

“Thanks Cassie,” Jake mumbled, his voice low and filled with half yawns as he stands himself, his bag slung over his shoulder, already dialing his phone.

“No problem Jake,” Cassie said gently, jogging over to Rachel as she saw Jake begin to talk on the phone. “Thanks again for letting me crash on your floor Rachel. Taylor seems to forget that it’s my room too and just invites her hook ups over again and again. It’s like she doesn’t even care that I pay to live there too.”

“It’s fine Cassie, my floor is your floor. Plus, since you’ll already be over, I can make sure you look like a total babe to seduce my cousin in the morning..” Rachel replied, a sleepy smile tugging at her lips before her words sunk in. “Actually, please don’t seduce my cousin, or if you do, don’t tell me about it. I don’t even know where that came from.”

“Just go to bed Rachel,” Cassie responded, crawling into her bed, burrowing into the covers.

As she slept, she dreamt of Jake, surrounded on all sides with gauzy bandages,his smile untouched, but only when it was directed at her. She dreamed he said the same thing, the same as every other night. “I loved you Cassie. Throughout it all, you were my anchor. I’m sorry about Rachel, but there was no other way.”

When she awoke in the morning, her palms were slicked with sweat and she felt the familiar tightness, the worry of something about her never quite remembered dreams that were important. The feeling faded as it always did.

Scene Break

Cassie tugged nervously at the hem of her skirt, tugging it lower for a brief moment before tugging it back up again. ‘I can’t believe I let Rachel talk me into a skirt. It feels so different, although it’s quickly growing on me.' Cassie thought to herself, finally seeing Jake leaning against the restaurant they agreed to meet at. “Hey Jake,” Cassie said, waving to get his attention.

When Jake saw Cassie, his mouth went dry. ‘She doesn’t look like herself. It’s so different seeing her in a skirt.' Jake thought to himself, pausing to clear his throat. “Hey Cassie,” Jake started, clearing his throat again, swallowing a sudden lump in his throat. “You look different.”

Cassie looked down, fiddling with the hem of her skirt again. ‘He thinks I look terrible.' “Yeah, I know. I gave Rachel too much power over what I was gonna wear,” Cassie replied glumly, fidgeting in her clothes.

“No, no, not at all. I just meant that I’ve never seen you wearing a skirt before. I wasn’t trying to say you look bad,” Jake said quickly, holding up his hands. “In fact, I think you look really really good actually.”

Cassie looked up, staring at Jake in surprise for a moment before looking back down at her flats. “Do you really think so? I mean, this really isn’t me, and I feel so awkward.”

“Cassie,” Jake began, reaching out and touching her cheek gently. As his thumb stroked her cheek gently, he softly began lifting her cheek, getting her to look up and meet his eyes. When her eyes finally met his he began to speak, “You look beautiful Cassie. No matter what you wear, no matter anything, you always look beautiful.”

Cassie blushed with each word, closing her eyes after a moment, leaning into Jakes hand, nuzzling her cheek into his palm. “Do you really mean that Jake? Not that I don’t believe you… just…” ‘I thought all guys wanted their girls in short skirts and cute tops, not in mostly poop stained overalls and more plaid and flannel than they own.' Cassie thought to herself as she trailed off.

“Yeah, I mean it. Every single word. If you aren’t comfortable, then I’ll walk you back to your dorm and wait in the lobby for you to change until you feel comfortable. Okay?” Jake asked, stroking Cassie’s cheek gently, smiling his soft shy smile at her. “Hell, I’ll give you the clothes off my back and go to lunch in just my skivvies and let you wear my clothes if that’ll make you happy.”

Cassie laughed loudly as Jake mentioned going to lunch in his underwear, her cheek warming quickly under his fingertips. “That’s incredibly sweet of you Jake,” Cassie said, moving forward, hugging him quickly. “But I really think 13 Bones has a baseline dress code. And as much as I, and much of the female population of the town might want to see you walking around in your boxers, I think I can stand the clothes for a few hours. Now, let’s go get lunch, and remember, it’s my turn to pay for dinner.”

Jake returned the hug, his arms wrapping around her quickly before releasing. “Yeah, I know it’s your turn to pay. Believe me, after last time having to listen to Rachel chew me out I won’t make that mistake again,”Jake replied, turning toward the restaurant, one arm going over Cassie’s shoulders, pulling her into a side hug.

As Cassie walked, she snuggled slightly into Jake’s side, leaning lightly into him. “Did she really chew you out for that?” Cassie asked as they walked.

“Yeah, it was really confusing for me at first. She just cornered me later that night after I had just gotten done brushing my teeth and was walking towards my room. She said that I had really hurt your feelings by paying and that it was really sexist of me to pay because I’m the guy,” Jake replied, his step falling in line with hers as they walked.

“Really? You never told me that,” Cassie replied, nudging him with her shoulder. “Then again, she didn’t tell me either.”

Jake shrugged, nudging Cassie back, “Yeah, she really did tell me all that. I’m sorry I never told you about that before. I’m also sorry that I never apologized. It was wrong of me to pay for the meal when it was your turn.”

“Well, I guess I can forgive you,” Cassie said, smiling up at Jake, “But only this one time.”

Jake returned the smile, rolling his eyes at Cassie’s words. “Oh really now? And what will you do if I mess up again?”

“Good question,” Cassie replied, idly scratching her side as she thought, “Probably sic Rachel on you again, but this time make her wait for me to be there.”

Jake barked a laugh, “Is that so? And would you both corner me after brushing my teeth again?”

“Yeah, probably. It is convenient,” Cassie replied, “Plus, if your roommate is gone for the night I could always convince you to let me crash with you and snuggle.”

“What a horrible fate,” Jake deadpanned, his expression neutral. “How would I ever be able to stand snuggling with you? Truly a fate worse than death.”

“You know you love it Jake,” Cassie replied, gesturing suddenly to the side. “And here we are.”

Jake nodded, pulling Cassie into another brief hug before letting his arm fall from her shoulders as he moved to open the door. “Ready to try something new?” Jake asked, licking his lips nervously as he swallowed the sudden lump in his throat.

Cassie shrugged, her head tilting for a moment. “Yeah, I think I am,” She replied certainly, a bright confident smile on her lips as she looked at Jake.


	8. Steak and Assumptions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People make assumptions about Jakes romantic life. Cassie gets annoyed. Jake is apologetic.

“Welcome to 13 Bones,” The waitress greeted cheerily as Jake and Cassie walked through the entrance to the restaurant. “How many in your party?”

“Just the two of us,” Jake replied, holding up two fingers unnecessarily.

“Alrighty then,” The waitress said, her name tag reading ‘Anna’. “Just follow me and I’ll lead you to your table.”

“Thanks,” Cassie said, silently reaching out for Jake’s hand, sliding her fingers through his. ‘This is it. I should tell Jake today. These last few weeks have been really great, and I thought I could keep the feelings for him romantically separate from the cuddling with him. But I can’t, or don’t want to, and I think I’m ready to do something scary and new.’

“It’s my pleasure,” Anna replied, turning her head and giving the friends a dazzling smile, noting their hands. “I hope this isn’t too presumptuous of me, but if I may ask, how long have you two been together?”

“Huh?” Jake blurted out, staring at the waitress blankly, his mind thinking back to Cassie’s reaction to the cashier at Wolfies, and to her face when she mentioned them going on dates. ‘Crap. She thinks Cassie and I are a thing. If I don’t set her straight, it’ll probably make Cassie uncomfortable. I mean her only reactions to someone alluding to that have been looking mortified or jumping away from me like I was a leper.' “Oh, me and Cassie? We're just friends,” Jake said, giving Cassie's hand a firm squeeze.

Cassie returned the squeeze automatically, her face falling at Jake’s words. “Yeah, just friends,” She said, putting as much cheer into her voice as she could.

“Oh… um, sorry,” Anna said, laughing a short humorless laugh. “It’s just… not a lot of people come to an expensive place like this with someone that they aren’t involved with, especially on valentines day.”

“Yeah,” Cassie said, rolling her eyes at the waitress. “That’s probably true, but we’re doing a thing where we try each restaurant in town at least once over the semester. This just happened to be next on our list,” Cassie explained, exasperation clear in her voice. “Oh, and one final thing, is it a requirement to work in a restaurant in town to want to assume about customers personal lives? Or is it just my bad luck?”

Anna forced a wooden smile as she turned again, gesturing to a table. “Here’s your table. Someone will be along to take your order shortly.”

Both muttered thanks, Jake’s with considerably more grace, as they sat down. Jake and Cassie both opened their menus, leaving them flat on the table, glancing at the drink choices. “So Cassie,” Jake asked gently as he stared down at the menu, “What in the holy hell was that about?”

“I’m just tired of people always assuming stuff about my personal life. I know some of the other restaurant clerks from classes and stuff and if they see me on campus later they always ask me really personal questions and make assumptions. And I’m quite frankly sick of it. Plus, I don’t feel like myself in these clothes,” Cassie replied, the words leaving her in a rush, falling over each other to get out. ‘Plus, I feel so out of place walking next to you. And I know that I can’t explain the people who look at us and judge, and I can’t make you understand how much it hurts to see the look in some peoples eyes when they see a girl like me walking with a guy like you.’

Jake nodded, reaching out and taking Cassie’s hand in his own, her hands warmer than his, his thumb brushing over the back of her hand gently. “I understand Cassie. About the people asking personal questions and wanting to avoid it. And I know I’m beating a dead horse here, but whenever you wanna leave we can. I’ll back you 100%.”

“Thank you, it means a lot Jake. But, I wanna stay. I don’t wanna run away from my problems, it’s not how my parents raised me to act,” Cassie replied, turning her hand under Jake’s over so she could run her thumb over the backs of his fingers gently.

Jake nodded, opening his mouth as a waiter appeared at their table, note pad in hand. “So, are you two ready to order?”

“Uh, sure,” Jake replied, glancing back over the menu. “I’ll have the T-bone. Well done. With mashed potatoes and brocoli. With lemonade to drink.”

Cassie glanced over the menu herself, taking a moment before looking at the waiter. “I’ll have the chicken cordon bleu. With the macaroni and mashed potatoes as well. And I’ll have a lemonade as well.”

The waiter nodded, taking the order down as they spoke. “Would you like to change it to our couples special? It’s a little bit cheaper than getting everything separate, plus you get a desert included.”

Cassie and Jake glanced up at each other. Jake shrugged, “Up to you Cass. It’s your money.”

“In that case, yes,” Cassie replied, smiling slightly.

“Wonderful!” The waiter said, smiling between the two. “And what for desert? Our special is our hot fudge Reese’s cup brownie cake.”

“I think we’ll have that,” Cassie said, seeing Jake nod emphatically.

The waiter nodded in reply, giving them both a smile before turning towards the kitchen. Jake and Cassie sat in semi-awkward silence until the food and drink arrived, neither quite able to start talking to the other with their usual candor. They both opened their mouths multiple times, always on the cusp of breaking the thick silence, but unable or unwilling to be the one to do so.

“Hey Cassie,” Jake began after their food had arrived, his steak sitting in front of him uncut. “I, uh, I… never mind,” Jake said, looking down at his steak, cutting it quickly and taking a bite.

Cassie looked at Jake, an eyebrow raised questioningly, already taking a bite out of her chicken. After she had swallowed, taking a sip of her drink to help the food go down she spoke. “What’s up Jake?”

“It’s nothing. Really,” Jake replied, idly poking at his steak with his fork. “It’s just, and you can say yes if you are it won’t hurt my feelings, are you mad at me?” Jake asked, still staring at his food.

“For what Jake?” Cassie asked, shocked at the question. “If it’s about the waitress, you’re right. I was majorly out of line and should’ve not snapped at her.”

“What? No. This has nothing to do with the waitress,” Jake assured her, his eyebrows knitting together. “It’s just… after last night. Or during last night rather, I know that after me and Rachel were talking about my dad and his jokes that I shut down. Emotionally that is. And I shut you out. And that was wrong of me. I’m just… I’m hoping you aren’t mad at me for that.”

Cassie reached out her hand, placing it on Jake’s forearm, rubbing small soothing circles into his skin with her fingers. “Jake… I didn’t even think to be mad at you. Rachel and I brought up something that brought up bad memories for you. If you shutting down as you put it is how you handle it, then that’s fine. If something hurts you, you go do what you have to do to heal and get back in the saddle as it were,” Cassie replied, her voice soft. “I should be apologizing to you for not realizing how bad it hit you.”

Jake smiled at Cassie. It was a small secretive smile, but it was honest. “Thank you Cassie. It’s just…” Jake said, pausing for a moment, wetting his lips with a swipe of his tongue. “There’s a lot of guilt, and anger, and a lot of other bad emotions that I tie into those times. I did a lot of things I’m not proud of. A lot of things that I’d do again if I had to. But I thought I was over them. Guess I was wrong.”

“The human mind is a great and terrible thing. You can think you’re over something and that it’s out of your head, but one word, one phrase, anything can set it back into motion full force. And that’s understandable,” Cassie replied, taking a bite of her food, a thoughtful look on her face as she chewed. “If you’d like, I know of a really great therapist in the are-”

“No,” Jake interuptted, the word practically flying out of his mouth. “No therapists. No therapy. No one crawling around inside my head. Not ever again.”

Cassie nodded emphatically, “Alright. No mentions of therapy for Jake. Understood. If you want, you can just talk to me. I promise I won’t try to crawl around in your head. Just sit and talk to you. That’s it.”

Jake nodded, still picking at his food. “So… what do you think of getting to-go boxes, heading back to my dorm, kicking my roommate out, and eating in comfort?” Jake asked, a note of hopefulness in his voice. “We don’t have to if you don’t want to… I just-”

“That sounds nice Jake,” Cassie said, cutting Jake off gently. “Just let me borrow a pair of sweats and a t-shirt that doesn’t make me feel overdressed and we’ll be in business.”

“Thank you, and sure, of course. I just, I want to talk with you about this kinda stuff,” Jake said, making a vague hand gesture towards his head, “But I can’t in public. I just… I can’t.”

Cassie nodded, reaching out and taking one of Jake’s hands in both of hers, covering his hand. “I understand Jake. I’m the last person you have to explain yourself to. About anything, especially your past. Only tell me if you want to, okay?”

Jake’s eyes began to water as he smiled at Cassie while she asked the waiter for carry out boxes for everything and the check. Jake packed his to-go box and the desert box carefully as he watched Cassie sign the receipt for the bill, tucking her card back into her wallet. “I’m sorry for ruining lunch Cassie,” Jake said as they walked out the front door, each carrying a bag of food.

“Jake, you didn’t ruin anything. Okay?” Cassie replied, switching her bag to the other hand, slipping her now free hand into Jake’s, lacing their fingers together. “Nothing is perfect, but just being out with you is nice in and of itself.”

Jake nodded once, squeezing Cassie’s hand as they walked down the street, hand in hand.

As they walked, linked by their hands, fingers sliding into the empty spaces left by the other, they both felt something in them stop. The worry, the concern with how other people saw the relationship, just stopped. And as they walked, they both closed their eyes and imagined for a brief second, that the moment being shared would never end.


	9. Tobias and Duplex Talk

Jake and Cassie were sharing the couch again. Cassie reclined against the arm of the couch, her sweat pants covered legs in Jake’s lap, a small grin on her face as she felt Jake’s arms resting against her shins. “Thanks for letting me borrow a pair of pajamas Jake. It really means a lot to me,” Cassie said, glancing down at her notes.

“No problem Cass,” Jake replied, using his nickname for her. “It really is my pleasure. Now, no more stalling, Gilgamesh was friends with Enkidu why?”

“OH, I know this one,” Rachel piped up from the chair across from Cassie, in her own pair of relaxation clothes.

“Good for you,” Cassie said, smiling at her to hopefully avoid hurting her friends feelings, “But unless you can convince Lentz to let you take my test for me, don’t tell me yet. Wasn’t it because he matched Gilgamesh in a fight?”

Jake shrugged one shoulder, a thoughtful look on his face. “Close Cassie, but actually it’s wrestling that he matches him in. I know the difference is minor, but you know he’s gonna count off if you don’t have the exact right answer for him.”

“I know Jake,” Cassie replied, nudging Jake in the stomach with her foot. “What’s the purpose of the mitochondria in a cell?”

“To make power for the cell to work… right?” Jake asked, glancing over at Cassie.

“Pretty much,” Cassie replied, rolling her eyes at the simple definition. “And luckily for you, since your tests are all multiple choice, that’s all you really gotta know.”

Jake gave Cassie a small smile, glancing down at the syllabus in his hands before looking back up. As he glanced at Cassie, looking slightly over her shoulder for a moment before his eyes lit up. “Hey Tobias!” Jake called, waving his hand at a dirty blonde boy walking past.

“Hey Jake,” The young man said, walking over toward Jake, flopping in the chair next to Rachel. He put his backpack on the floor, shyly grinning at Cassie, pausing and licking his lips as he glanced at Rachel. “I’m Tobias,” He said, extending a hand towards both Rachel and Cassie.

“I’m Cassie,” Cassie spoke soflty, extended her own hand, introducing herself quietly before returning to studying her notes.

“I’m Rachel,” Rachel said, giving Tobias a firm handshake. “I’m sure Jake’s told you a lot about me.”

Tobias gave a surprised laugh, his shyness falling away like a second skin leaving him. “Not at all actually, although I’m sure I wouldn’t mind hearing more about you.”

As Rachel began to open her mouth to respond Jake cut in, placing a hand on Cassie’s shin as he leaned forward. “Rachel, Tobias is a good guy. Don’t go corrupting him. I don’t want to be in a group with a male version of you.”

“Hey, I’m not that bad Jake,” Rachel cried, one hand going to her hip, the other still in Tobias’ grip. “Plus, I wouldn’t corrupt anyone. Thank you very much.”

Before Jake could form a reply Tobias cleared his throat. “Speaking as the person in question, who by the way has been here the whole time, I don’t think I’d mind a little bit of corruption. At least not from the vision of beauty I see in front of me,” Tobias replied, leaning down to place a kiss on the back of Rachel’s hand before letting it go.

Both Jake and Cassie were smirking at Rachel, her pale cheeks rosy with color. “So Tobias,” Rachel began, pausing to slowly lick her lips. “What exactly are you majoring in?”

Tobias glanced down as Rachel licked her lips, his own cheeks growing pink after a moment. “I’m actually a double major. I’m a graphic design major along with a double major in computer science. With a minor in paleontology. How about yourself?”

“I’m actually a fashion design major,” Rachel replied, smiling shyly up at Tobias. “I considered trying to do pre-law and going into law school after this but my mom has that covered already. And I really don’t wanna have to some day fight my mom for cases.”

“Interesting,” Tobias mused, pulling a few of his books out. “Do you guys mind if I study out here for a while?” Tobias asked, looking at the three already sprawled along the lobby.

Jake looked over at Cassie, rubbing his hand absently over her shin. “I don’t mind Tobias,” Jake replied, looking from his friend to his cousin. “But you’re gonna have to ask the girls. They run the roost, I’m just the history guy.”

Cassie jerked up as Jake started rubbing her shin, her face heating up quickly. “I don’t mind if you want to study Tobias,” Cassie said, rotating on the couch so she was sitting up straight.

“What are you studying?” Rachel asked, stretching in her seat. As she finished her stretching, she noticed Jake shooting Cassie a confused look.

“This is for my linear algebra class.” Tobias replied, pulling out a gray textbook and a worn black note book. “It’s one of the overlapping classes for both my majors.”

“That sounds like a really interesting class,” Rachel replied, leaning over her chair arm towards him. “What’s it about?”

“It’s about vectors and how they are important in the world. Like with economics, or probabilities, or even computer generated graphics…” Tobias replied, leaning towards Rachel, his words becoming a low hum of excitement as he spoke.

“Hey Cassie,” Jake said softly, reaching his hand out towards his friend. “Is something wrong? You just jerked away. If I did something wrong, please tell me…”

Cassie looked at Jake for a moment, staring down at her notes. “It’s just… you didn’t do anything wrong. I promise.”

“Then what was it?” Jake asked, a note of hurt in his voice.

“Well I,” Cassie began, pulling her braids over her shoulder, playing with them idly. “I guess I’m just not very used to being touched like… well like that.”

“What do you mean?” Jake asked, clear confusion in his tone. “Was I being too… forward? I wasn’t trying to make you uncomfortable Cassie, I promise. And I’m really really sorry if I did.”

“No Jake, you weren’t being too forward,” Cassie replied, scooting closer to him on the couch. As she got close to Jake, leaning against him, she placed her hand on his forearm before speaking, “It’s just, do you remember me telling you about my friend, Yami?”

“Yeah, I remember,” Jake replied, placing his hand over Cassie’s on his forearm. “Your friend that you were cuddly with. Why?”

Cassie looked down at her hand covered by Jake’s. “With him, we normally cuddled up like this,” Cassie said, nudging him with her shoulder. “We didn’t normally, or ever, sit with my legs in his lap. So it’s just… it’s a really different sensation. One I’m not used to.”

Jake nodded, moving his hand covering Cassie’s so it was resting in his lap. “I’m sorry Cassie. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I just… I feel really comfortable around you. Will you forgive me?”

Cassie looked down at her hands, fidgeting momentarily as she swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. “Jake, there’s nothing to forgive. Having a physical relationship like this… it’s new ground, for both of us. We’re both gonna have miscues, or things that we just do half instinctively. If those don’t work out well, we should apologize, but other than that I think we should remember that talking to each other is really important.”

Jake nodded, shyly putting his arm around Cassie’s shoulders, sighing as she curled into his side. “Thanks Cassie. You’re really a great friend,” Jake said softly, speaking to the top of Cassie’s head. “Now, the Greek alphabet is your next study question.”

“Alpha, Beta, Delta, Epsilon, Gamma, ummm, Iota, ummmm, I have no clue about the rest,” Cassie said, hanging her head, placing her head against Jake’s chest. As he started reciting the alphabet, Cassie closed her eyes and listened to his voice and the sound of his heart beating, a smile sliding onto her face as she tried to absorb the information.

Scene Break

It was a Wednesday in mid March when Cassie was cornered leaving her Ancient Mediterranean class by a Berenson. But it most certainly wasn’t the Berenson she was expecting. “Hey Cassie!” Rachel exclaimed, smiling at her friend. “Got time for a chat?”

“Well I’m supposed to meet Jake for lunch at the front of the building,” Cassie replied.

“So you do have time for a chat. Great,” Rachel replied, hooking her arm through Cassie’s. “I actually talked to Jake already, he’s meeting us at Wolfies. It’s kinda a three person talk, but I need to talk to you separately first.”

“Okaaaaaaay,” Cassie replied, drawing her word out with an air of confusion. “In that case, what’s up?”

“I want to proposition you,” Rachel replied, shaking her head after thinking over her sentence. “I mean I want to propose to you. I mean, I have a proposal for you,” Rachel corrected, her unusually messy blonde hair flying behind her with each shake of her head.

“Sounds interesting,” Cassie replied, thinking over what Rachel said. “And I’m sorry Rachel, you’re just not my type.”

Rachel smiled at her friend, looping an arm around her shoulders. “I didn’t mean it like that. Plus, I don’t wanna get in the way of my cousin,” Rachel replied. “But that’s not the point of this conversation. I found a place that I wanna live off campus. It’s a 3 bedroom duplex. Well 3 bedroom per level. So 6 total. But the owners have said they prefer if the people renting all know each other, and I was thinking me, you and Melissa, on one level, with Jake, Tobias, and Tobias’ uncle as the third for their group.”

“That sounds really nice. How much will it be though? I mean… I wanna move off of campus ASAP as much as the next person, but I can’t pay a whole lot ya know,” Cassie replied, walking with her friend.

“It’s 750 per duplex. So 250 each for rent. Nothing is included other than water. But Tobias’ uncle already has an account with a power company and can put it in the whole duplex and we all put money towards it.”

“How’s that gonna work?” Cassie asked, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Is it not separated by floor?”

“No, it’s not. That’s why they want to get people that know each other, so they can make the electric work out without having to rewire it. Same with the internet. It’s all set up through the house as one system.”

“Makes sense,” Cassie replied slowly, her eyebrows furrowed for a moment. “Wait did you say Tobias’ uncle?”

“Oh yeah,” Rachel replied, “I forgot to tell you about that. Turns out Tobias’ uncle was born really close to when he was. So they… well they didn’t grow up together because he’s from some small Eastern European nation that I don’t remember, but they met when they were teenagers and have more or less grown up together since then.”

“That’s reasonable. I thought it was gonna be some 45 year old guy, and I couldn’t do that.”

“Don’t worry, Alex is pretty cool. He’s an astrophysics major at the college,” Rachel replied, a grin splitting her face as they came up on Wofies. “Ready to see if Jake’ll go along with it?”

Cassie gave Rachel a grin and a calm, “Let’s do it.”


End file.
